A Sort of Heroic Rescue
by SporadicDeviance
Summary: In Kung Fu Panda 2, there was a scene where Po faced off against Shen's fleet by himself. While that was going on, did you notice that three characters were not seen on screen until after Shen was crushed by his own weapon? Did you ever wonder where they were or what they were doing? (One Shot told from Monkey's POV)


**Author's Note: Do you remember the scene in Kung Fu Panda 2 where Po had to face off against Shen's fleet by himself. Do you remember that you didn't see three certain characters until after Shen was killed by his own cannon. I did, and since then, I kept thinking to myself about what Monkey, Mantis, and Viper were doing while Po was using inner peace to defeat Shen. Well I came up with a theory of my own and I wrote a story based on it. Now this is just a possibility of what the three characters were doing. There are multiple theories about what they were actually doing or where they were while Po took care of Shen, so don't take it as me saying what "really" happened, just take it as a fun "what if" story. I hope you will enjoy the story.**

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It all happened so fast, at least it seemed fast from my perspective. We believed that we were going to destroy Shen and his fleet of boats armed with these deadly weapons when all of a sudden, Shen fired his main weapon at us. As I saw the ball of steel and fire speeding towards me and my comrades, I knew that getting hit by the blast was inevitable. Before I could brace myself, a bright light blinded me and a great force propelled me backwards, knocking me unconscious as I flew through the air.

When I came to, I found myself about eight feet underwater. I immediately jolted and started to swim up towards the surface. As I got my head out of the water, I frantically coughed up the water that had filled in my lungs and started to breathe. After I caught my breath, I wiped my eyes and saw Shen's armada coming towards me. I turned my body in the water in search of my friends. I immediately found Crane, Master Ox, and Master Croc on a large chunk of wood. Then I saw Po swimming towards Tigress, who was clinging another piece of debris. immediately after I found those two, I saw Master Shifu holding on a small chunk of a destroyed ship.

After finding them, I looked all around in trying to find Mantis and Viper, but there was no sign of them. I was frantic at that point. Where were they? Are they on one of Shen's ships, or are they under water. I was not strong enough to try to face the army on any of those ships, so I decided go down below. I took a deep breath and dove underwater.

As I swam around the depths, I kept trying to look through the murky waters to find my two friends, but all I could see was broken ship parts and the bodies of the wolf bandits. I was running out of breath so I was about swim upwards, when suddenly, a green speck caught my eye. I turned my head to see Mantis unconscious and floating down towards the bottom of the sea. Without hesitation, I swam as fast as I could get to my friend.

I reached out towards Mantis, and I scooped him with my hand. As soon as I got him, I started kicking with my legs as fast as I could while holding Mantis with one arm and using the other to frantically push me towards the surface. Soon afterwards, I got my head and Mantis out of the water.

The first thing I saw was Po standing on a chunk of wood that was floating in front of Shen's fleet. I wanted to know what he was doing, but I had to take care of other things first.

I looked around to see Crane, Master Ox, and Master Croc being the closest to me. I swam straight towards them, with Mantis now on my shoulder.

I called out to the semiconscious warriors,

"Guys!" I called out to them, "Hey!"

I saw Crane looking in my direction and he waved his good wing in the air.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Crane asked.

I got to the chunk of wood where Crane was on, and I put Mantis down right next to Master Croc.

"I'm alright," I said, "But Mantis needs help."

Master Croc crawled to Mantis to check on him.

"I'm on it." Croc said as he began to help Mantis.

Croc laid Mantis on his back and started to press on Mantis' abdomen with just his thumb.

"Don't worry," Master Croc said as he kept helping Mantis. "Your friend is going to be okay."

I sighed with relief, but I knew that someone else was still missing. I then looked around for any signs of Viper, but I still couldn't find her.

"You guys seen Viper?" I ask with fear in my voice.

Crane shook his head as he spoke. "No, we haven't."

"We wanted to search for you, Mantis, and Viper," Master Ox started, "but the weapon did some significant damage on us."

After hearing that, I did not want to waste any more time. Without saying a word, I took a deep breath and I went back underneath the sea in search of Viper.

I was getting extremely frantic at that point. I already wasted enough time as it is. Viper has already been under the water for so long and I barely got Mantis out in time. I immediately pushed those thoughts away. I knew that worrying about Viper was not going to save her.

Frantically, I swam down the sea as I searched for my missing friend. I looked all around; moving any descending chunks of wood and dead bodies that were in my way but still, no sign of Viper. I was starting to lose hope when suddenly I felt a large force pushing me down farther into the sea. I looked up and saw that a large explosion was happening above me. I wanted to make sure everyone up there was okay, but I didn't have time to waste.

I swam deeper and deeper down the body of water, and it was getting darker and murkier the farther I went below, the only source of light came from those occasional explosions from above water. I eventually got to the bottom of the sea and I moved my body all around, looking at every direction, searching for a glimpse of my friend. All of a sudden, a chunk of debris landed on the sandy floor right not to far from me. The impact made some of the sand disperse in the water. I had to cover my eyes for a bit. When I felt the sand clear, I opened my eyes and I looked at the debris. To my surprise, I see Viper caught under the large chunk of one of the boats and she's struggling to get out.

Without hesitation, I swam as fast as I could towards Viper. As soon as could reached her, I put my hand on her back. She turned her head to see me and her eyes widened in surprise. I motioned her to stay calm to which she nods. I looked around the chunk of debris until I found a spot where I can grab onto, a hole in one of the planks of wood, close to Viper. I get both my hands into the hole and I grip as hard as I can.

I started pulling the boat part up with all my strength. I pulled and pulled and pulled and pulled some more but the debris wouldn't budge. While I pulled, I looked at Viper to see her pulling her self forward. While looking, my hand slipped and I felt sharp pain on my hand. I gasp in pain but in turn, I inhaled some water. I jolted back and put my other hand on my mouth, trying to make sure I didn't inhale any more water. Shaking my head, I pulled myself together, and started to swim back towards the hole.

All of a sudden I heard a muffled "No." I turned my head to see Viper. She was shaking her head with urgency and then motioned her head. She wanted me to leave her and go back to the surface. Although I knew that I was at a greater risk with the water probably inside my lungs, I knew that if I leave now, I wouldn't be able to get back to Viper in time to save her. I ignored Viper's request, and I went back to the hole in the debris. I knew Viper was probably rolling her eyes at me but I didn't care. I had to save Viper and soon.

With all the strength I had left, I pulled up on the debris. I strained all the muscles in my arm as much as I could, kicking my legs to help propel me up, my teeth were gritting and my eyes closed tight. I started to feel a little light-headed but I knew that if I stopped now, it wouldn't be good for Viper or me. I continued on, trying to lift the boat with this one last tug. Still stuck in place, still making no progress. I was all of a sudden started to feel a little more faint when suddenly, I felt the large chunk of wood being lifted up.

Excited, I continued to tug, and the debris was going higher. I went higher as pulled up more and more until I heard a swift whooshing sound. It had to have been Viper swimming out from under the debris. I looked over to see that Viper wasn't there anymore. I felt relieved and a little tired too. I then began to swim upwards, but then, for some reason, I stopped and I began to lose feeling in my body. I began to close my eyes when suddenly, I felt something being wrapped around my body and pull me up. After a couples of seconds of being pulled, my eyes shut.

As soon as I opened my eyes I was coughing up water. I jolted up from laying down, using my elbows to support me. I was looking up towards the sky. Looking down, I noticed that I was on a plank of wood. I turn my head to the left and saw Tigress supporting herself on the wood with her arms. I turned my head to the right Viper laying on the plank of wood with her front half.

I breathed heavily for a bit as Tigress and Viper stared at me, Tigress silently and Viper breathing a bit hard. After a bit of catching my breath I turn over to lay on the plank of wood on my chest. After that, I heard Tigress speak.

"Welcome back." she said patting me on the back.

I took a couple of breaths before giving her a nod of recognition. I turned my head to Viper who looked at me with concern.

"Are you okay?" I asked Viper.

The question made her jolt her head up. She gave me a look of disbelief and scoffed a bit.

"'Are you okay?'" she said. "I should be asking you that question. You're the one who passed out."

I was a bit confused at what Viper said. Immediately, I said, "Well if I left to prevent me from passing out, you would be the one who probably blacked out or worse."

"Monkey, I wasn't under water long enough to pass out." Viper stated.

I was even more confused. "Wait, what?"

Viper sighed to herself before she started. "I got my head above water and I swam towards Tigress. I asked where everyone was."

Tigress then joined in on the conversation, "I told her that I saw you go under water, supposedly looking for her."

"Then I went back down, looking for you, a piece of debris fell on me, and...well, you know the rest."

It took a couple of seconds for me to register what the girls told me. When it finally hit me, I felt ashamed. If I had just waited for just a couple more seconds, I would have seen Viper with Tigress and I would not have gone under and put both me and her in danger. I just put my hand over my eyes and just shook my head, mentally kicking myself for being impatient. I knew that the others were giving me looks, whether they were of pity or disappointment, I'll never know.

I moved my hand away from my face to notice that it was cut and it was bleeding a bit. I just sighed and shook my head.

"Hey Monkey, is your hand ok?" Tigress said to me.

I didn't bother to turn my head. I just kept looking at my hand while I said, "It's alright."

After saying that, I finally remembered about Shen. I decided to stop thinking about my mistake for now and focus on what the situation was with Shen. I looked all around me and I saw that all of Shen's boats destroyed. Even Shen's personal boat was barely afloat. I was both relieved and confused.

"Hey," I said to Tigress. "What happened here."

Tigress looked around the wrecked ships while explaining. "Well, Shen fired his canons at Po, but Po caught the shots and fired them at Shen's fleet."

That statement made me a bit more confused.

"How can Po do that?" I said. "The last time Po faced one of Shen's weapons we thought he died."

"Well...I think that Po might have mastered inner peace." Tigress explained to me.

What Tigress said caught me off guard. It wasn't that I didn't think that Po had no talent as a Kung Fu warrior, I just thought that it would have taken him years even decades for him to master inner peace. It didn't really matter, Shen was finally defeated and China along with the art of Kung Fu saved. I was happy that our mission was an overall success and that Po was not only still alive but also became more powerful than ever. However, no matter how much I wanted to focus on what Po accomplished, I still had my mishap on my mind.

I could have just waited. I could have tended to Mantis. I could have just let Viper get herself out of the water and everything would have been fine. As I thought about that, I also realized that Mantis could have gotten himself up to the surface of the water. He wasn't under there long enough to be in risk of drowning and I know that he can recover easily from most attacks. He probably would have came to and swam to the surface without my help what so ever just like Viper did.

That was the main reason I was upset with myself, I should have had more faith in my friends. I know Mantis and Viper, I've seen what they're capable of, they have the capability to get themselves out of trouble on their own. But instead of seeing them as my equals who are more than capable of taking care of themselves, I just saw them as helpless people who needed rescuing. It was very arrogant of me, and it almost costed both mine and Viper's life. I looked at my hands and turned them into fists in frustration, making my wound bleed some more.

While I was thinking about my mistake, I realized that Po was nowhere to be seen. I put away all anger I had with myself for now as I looked around for my friend.

"Hey, where's Po?" I asked.

Tigress looked over towards Shen's destroyed boat nodded in its direction. I was surprised to say the least.

"He's on Shen's boat? Why?" I asked while scratching my head.

"I don't know," Tigress answered.

Just then a commotion started up from Shen's boat. We were hearing jumps, kicks, grunts and yells of pain. I was looking at the shipwreck with fear for my friend. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't in good enough shape at the moment to help Po out and I'm sure that neither were Viper or Tigress. Heck, in my case, I probably just make the situation worse for Po if I decided to help.

Just then, the weapon on Shen's boat started to fall over. When it hit the boat, the shipwreck began to explode. This took me by surprise. I flinched and closed my eyes at the sound of the blast. When I opened my eyes, Shen's boat was gone and neither Po nor Shen were anywhere to be seen. Tigress, Viper and I looked around the area for Po, but we couldn't find him.

Just then we heard a voice. "Hey! Over here!"

We turned our heads to see Crane on a relatively smaller shipwreck with Mantis, Master Shifu, Master Croc, and Master Ox. Crane was waving his wing in our direction. Tigress looked at us, looked around the water a bit, and then started to swim towards Crane and the others. Viper and I began to swim and caught up with Tigress.

I was between Tigress and Viper while swimming towards my other comrades. I looked to my left and saw Tigress moving her eyes back and forth, more than likely in search of Po. I looked to my right and saw Viper who just swam towards the shipwreck not showing much emotion on her face. The wound on my hand began to sting from the water when I looked at her. As soon as I saw Viper's face, I immediately began to wonder if she is thinking about me and what I did. I knew that I had a one track mind, but I couldn't help but still feel guilty about what I done. If my mistake only put my life at risk, then I wouldn't consider this as huge of an issue, but this also put someone else's life in risk. Not just someone else but also my comrade and my friend. While I thought about my mistake again, something else came to mind; if I was giving myself such a hard time, imagine what Viper is thinking about me at this moment. She probably thinks that I was reckless and that I can't stop and think when the time comes. She's more than likely just waiting for when she can get me alone so she can chastise me and I wouldn't blame her. In fact, I think she has the right to call me out in front of the other masters for the idiotic stunt I just pulled.

Before I could think more about my own problems, Viper, Tigress, and I arrived at the shipwreck where our fellow warriors were at. I saw Master Ox come up to us and kneeled down and reached out towards us. Tigress grabbed Master Ox's hoof and he pulled her up. While that happened Viper slithered up the shipwreck without anyone's help. As soon as Tigress got on the shipwreck, Master Ox reached out towards me and I grabbed ahold of his hoof. While I was pulled up, I saw the harbor of Gongmen City and saw a huge crowd of civilians gathered around looking towards us and conversing with themselves.

Tigress then began to speak, "Where's Po? Has, anyone seen him?"

"Relax Master Tigress," Master Shifu said in a calm tone. "The Dragon Warrior is here. I can still sense him."

Me and the rest of the Five took a collective sigh after hearing that. Just then, we all heard the sound of something coming out the water. We turned our heads to see Po floating in the water near us. The crowd by the harbor began cheering while Tigress began walking towards Po to get him. The rest of us began rejoicing as well. Even I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with relief despite still feeling guilty. I grinned and patted Crane on the back who was laughing out loud. Mantis kept hoping around us cheering about how it's all over. Viper just smiled and nodded at the three of us. Masters Ox and Croc smiled and gave each other a firm handshake. Master Shifu just stood still holding his staff and smiling.

After some time, we heard a swift sound. We turned our heads to see Po hugging Tigress. We all became silent at that point. The only sound that came from us was the sound Cranes beak dropping. My three friends and I shook off our shock as soon as Po released Tigress and then we all rushed Po.

Viper and I jumped on Po's torso, making him fall over. I just cheered for my friend while Viper was more verbal, "You did it Po!"

Mantis started bouncing on Po, laughing in joy. "Po! Come here! Yeah!"

Crane flew behind Po while saying in relived voice, "Don't ever do that again, please?"

Just then, Master Shifu came towards Po with a proud expression on his face.

"It seems that you have found inner peace, and at such a young age," After saying the last part, Master Shifu's proud expression turned into aloof of contempt for himself.

Po just grinned at our Master still holding me and Viper in his arms. "Well, I had a pretty good teacher."

At that moment reached out and grabbed Master Shifu in his arms, with me and Viper still in them, and squeezed his arms in a big hug. The hug made me lose some of my breath but I didn't mind it. When Po loosened his hug, we all saw that Master Shifu wasn't in his arms. Me, the rest of the Furious Five, and Po looked around to find Master Shifu standing behind Po and grinning towards the Dragon Warrior. Just then, we heard something coming from the shipwreck of Shen's main boat. It was the firework powder for Shen's weapon going off, creating a spectacular firework show. Po released me and Viper then he walked over to the edge of the boat to get a better view of the show. Everyone else followed suit and we all just stood there in awe of the spectacle of light and explosions in front of us while the civilians on the harbor cheered on.

The fireworks were stunning in all honesty, but for some reason, I lost interest in watching the show after a couple of seconds. I just wanted to sit down some where and think to myself for a bit. I turned away from the show and walked to the other side of the boat. I sat down and put my legs over the edge to just hang there above the water.

I looked down at the water, staring at my reflection. I looked down into the sea, looking as far deep as I can possibly see. I lifted my arm and looked at the palm of my wounded hand. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but it still stung a bit. I just stared at the wound and contemplated to myself on what went down below the water. I was getting tired of having this mistake over my head. Usually, I would think about other things until the mistake came to bite me later in the day, or the week if I'm lucky. I don't know why I kept harping on about this in my head. Maybe it was because now that the missions over I couldn't distract myself with any other thoughts. Maybe it was that we're still where I made my mistake. More than likely though it's probably because Viper hasn't said anything to me since she and Tigress told me the full story about my screw up.

It worried me as to why Viper wasn't talking to me. It just made me keep thinking to myself, "Is she that upset? Does she want nothing to do with me right now?"

Whatever the case was, I knew that I would have to do my best avoid talking to her until we get back to the Jade Palace. As soon as I came up with that plan, I looked away from my hand and towards the water to see Viper's reflection right next to mine. I turned my head to her. She was looking at me with concern, I didn't know why though.

"Hey," she started, "are you ok?"

"Yeah." I answered back, "Why do you ask?"

"Well...you look tired and I thought that you were going to pass out again so I wanted to check on you to make sure that you're okay."

Why was she being nice to me? She should be upset with the fact that I almost got her killed. I just didn't get it. I looked over at the fireworks then at my comrades who were enjoying the show, Po especially. I looked at my cut hand, rubbing the wound lightly with my fingers. I then looked back at my reflection in the water and sighed.

"Listen Viper," I started, "You don't have to be nice. I know your upset with me."

"What are you talking about?" Viper asked me.

I sighed again and I turned to Viper, looking at her straight in the eye and with all sincerity, "...I know I messed up. Big time. I took action without thinking ahead. I put myself in danger that not only put my life on the line, but also yours. If I had just waited a bit longer, none of this would've happened. And this was because I had the arrogance to think that I had to save you. I just saw you as another helpless civilian that needs to be rescued instead of the Kung Fu master that I know you are. My actions almost got you killed and for that, I cannot be any more sorry than I already am. I know you're trying to be nice, but I also know you're upset. So you can stop being polite and just let me have what's coming to me. I know I deserve it."

After saying that, I went back to looking at the water. I saw Viper in the reflection in the water. She was just staring at me, not moving a muscle. She probably didn't expect me to apologize like that. I just closed my eyes at that point, waiting for whatever Viper would say or do to me. All of a sudden, I felt slight pressure on my cheek. I opened my eyes and looked at the reflection. Viper was kissing my cheek. While I processed what was just happening, Viper pulled her head back. my face started to feel flushed. I turned my head back to her. She was grinning at me. I didn't believe what had just happened. I actually thought that it was a trick for a moment.

"V-Viper..." I stammered. She just nodded her head at me, still grinning. "Why...did you..."

"Monkey, I'm not upset with you at all." she told me.

"Really?"

"You were just worried for my safety. You were taking the initiative to make sure I was okay. You put yourself in danger because you thought that my life was on the line. If you just stayed where you were, it would've meant that you would be okay if I did actually drown. But you didn't wait around, and that's because you have the compassion and the will to protect me or anyone else you know for that matter. I know I'm a Kung Fu master, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to save myself every time. Your rescue attempt may have almost gotten us killed, but if you didn't stick around to lift that debris off me, then I probably wouldn't be here."

I started to feel really dumb after she told me that. "...I didn't think about it like that."

"And by the way. I'm partly to blame for all this too."

That statement really confused me. "What do you mean by that?"

"If I had just waited for a bit, you would have come up for some air and seen me with Tigress."

I had to correct her on that. "Well, actually, I probably would have stayed under till I passed out while looking for you."

Viper looked at me dumbfounded for a bit and then she started to chuckle. I had to look away from her in embarrassment.

"Okay," she said in the midst of her snickering, "now that is pretty dumb of you Monkey."

I just smiled and laughed along with Viper. I had to admit that my plan was pretty dumb.

"Yeah yeah, I know." I said while chuckling. After we stopped snickering, I asked Viper one more question. I felt kind of weird while asking, "So Viper... the kiss on my cheek...why?"

"That was a thank you for caring about my well-being."

"Oh...well then. You're welcome."

After I said that, Viper began to smile at me to which I smile back. She then took her tail and put it behind my head. She giggled a bit and tilted her head. Then, she took her tail and smacked the back of my head with it. I was taken back by it as I started to rub the sore spot.

"Ow!" I exclaimed "What was that for?"

"For just assuming that I would be upset with you." she said half seriously.

I stopped rubbing the back of my head and I looked at my hand. I saw the wound on my hand and I realize that it stopped stinging.

Feeling better about myself, I turned my head and grinned at the smirking snake. "Fair enough."

"Hey Monkey!" a voice called out.

Viper and I turned our heads behind us to see Mantis standing still and looking at me.

"Hey Mantis." I said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, dude," he answered, "I just...wanted to thank you...you know, for saving my life and stuff."

I nodded my head and smiled a bit. "It's no problem buddy. So you're not upset with me either."

"Upset with you? Did you swallow too much sea water man?"

Me and Viper laughed at what he said.

"Forget it," I said.

"Okay then," Mantis said. "Anyway, I really do owe you one. Whatever you need from me I'll do it. Alright?"

"Okay," I said while rubbing my chin and smirking at my comrade. "I've noticed that some of my almond cookies keep going missing from time to time and I know that Po isn't the only one taking them. Do you think you can do anything about that?"

Mantis started to sweat a bit. "Uhhh... Can't say I know anything about that. _Hehe_. I'll try my best to help you, but if I can't do anything about...that, just tell me something else that you want me to do."

Mantis then hopped over to the others as me and Viper laughed with each other. I looked around and took notice that the firework show ended and everyone else on the boat were separated into groups, except for Po who just stared at the ocean by himself. Viper I got up and we walked over to Po.

"Hey, Po," I said to the Dragon Warrior who turned his head to me. "How does it feel to have inner peace?"

"Buddy, it is so awesome!" Po exclaimed with joy. "I feel so at one with myself! Plus my mind and body are totally peaceful."

Just then, Po's stomach began to growl. Me, Viper and the rest of the Kung Fu masters looked at Po who looked at his belly. His patted his gut a bit and then looked back at me.

"At least my body will be when I get something to eat."

Everyone on the boat laughed at Po's remark, myself included. I felt so relived now. Our mission was a success, China and Kung Fu saved. Po has grown as a Kung Fu warrior, and everyone I know was safe. I can now stop thinking about my problems and just enjoy the time I have with those I care for.

"Hey, everyone," Crane started, making everyone else on the shipwreck stop laughing to look at him. "Are we supposed to wait for a boat to come and pick us up, or do we have to swim back towards the city because that blast from the weapon busted my wing a bit and I don't think I have the strength to swim back."

We all looked at one another, all of us realizing that the battle took so much out of us, that we had no choice but to wait for a rescue boat. Po's stomach growled again, making the Dragon Warrior grab ahold of his belly.

"Uh...how long do you think the boats will take?" Po asked.

"Maybe thirty minutes. An hour tops," Master Croc answered with Master Ox nodding in confirmation.

We all groaned as we waited for the boats to come and pick us up.

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**AN: And that's the story. Was it good? Was it Bad? Was it just alright? Leave a review telling me what you liked and/or disliked about the story or what you thought about it overall. Also for those of you who are waiting for my other story, Just a Normal Vacation to be updated, I want to tell you that a new chapter is coming soon. I apologize for the long wait. If you haven't read the story, you can find it on my profile page and you can read that story and post a review if you want to. I hope you read and enjoy what I have done so far with the story and thank you for taking the time to read this one.**


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